Frederick C. Billard

Frederick Chamberlayne Billard served as the sixth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from 1924 until his death. Billards military career began with his appointment to the School of Instruction of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1894. Among his experiences before becoming Commandant, Billard commanded several cutters, served as aide to two Commandants and also served twice as superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy. After rising through the ranks, he was appointed to serve as Commandant in January 1924 and with the appointment, the rank of rear admiral. His leadership of the Coast Guard during the prohibition era required careful planning and use of available resources to accomplish the mission while making sure that other required missions werent slighted. He was very involved in the training of his officers as a superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy and he was responsible for the purchase of the permanent location of the academy at New London, Connecticut.

Billard was born in Washington, D.C. onSeptember 1873. A graduate of Baltimore City College, onJanuary 1894 he was appointed a cadet from Maryland in the United States Revenue Cutter Service. Cadets of the School of Instruction of that era took their training aboard the practice ship USRC Chase, which had been newly modified to accommodate the first class of cadets since the school had closed temporarily in 1890. Billard was one ofcadets in the class during the summer of 1894 to train aboard Chase. He graduated from the School of InstructionApril 1896 and was commissioned a third lieutenant.

Source: Wikipedia